Success in South America

Aditya Birla Group's widespread operations in South America cover the metals, carbon black and trading sectors

The vibrant market of Brazil is home to three of Aditya Birla Group’s companies – Novelis, Birla Carbon and Swiss Singapore Overseas Enterprise – and this nation has helped fortify the Group’s presence in South America.

Novelis Inc. is the leading global producer of flat-rolled aluminium products and the world’s largest recycler of aluminium. Its South American operations specialise in delivering high-performance aluminium sheet to the beverage can market and manufacture industrial and light-gauge foil products.

The plant in Pinda (Pindamonhangaba), located in the state of São Paulo, is Novelis' largest manufacturing facility in South America.

The company operates two manufacturing plants in Brazil and 14 used beverage can (UBC) recycling centres. The Novelis plant in Pinda (Pindamonhangaba), located in the state of São Paulo, is the company's largest facility in Latin America and produces aluminium sheets for beverage cans and consumer, industrial, and packaging markets. The flagship plant, established in 1977, is one of the world's largest integrated sites for the recycling of aluminium rolled products and cans. Located centrally between the commercial centres of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, it is an integrated hot rolling, cold rolling, finishing and recycling facility.

Another plant in Santo André produces aluminium foil products for various applications, including packaging, automotive and transportation, pharmaceutical and cosmetics, and consumer and industrial goods. Sustainability is at the core of Novelis’ South America operations, as its contributions to Brazil's recycling revolution suggest. Novelis has made the aluminium recycling business a driver of social, environmental and economic transformation, and nearly all of the country is committed to recycling UBCs, with a country-wide recycling rate of almost 98 percent. The activity begins at home with mindful waste disposal and then passes through to recycling cooperatives, scrap suppliers, and ultimately to industrial recycling facilities. Apart from reducing the waste stream, this constant recycling process generates thousands of direct and indirect jobs in Brazil.

Birla Carbon's operations in Brazil have made the nation a significant contributor to South America's carbon black stocks today.

Brazil is also home to Birla Carbon's global carbon black business. Birla Carbon manufactures and supplies high-quality carbon black additives that find application in paints and coatings, inks and toners, plastics, adhesives, sealants, textile fibres, mechanical rubber goods, and tyres. The company's presence of over six decades in Brazil began with the Cubatão plant in 1958. The plant has a large production capacity and a power plant that generates energy and steam, which is sent back to the local power grids. It is recognised under the ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, and IATF 16949 certifications. The Cubatao plant is also an active member of the ABIQUIM (Chemical Industry Brazilian Association) and the CIESP (Sao Paulo State Industries Center).

Birla Carbon operates another facility in Brazil — Camaçari in the state of Bahia. Operational for over 14 years, the Camaçari plant is one of the most modern and automated plants of Birla Carbon. The International Carbon Black Association has consistently recognised the unit for various operational parameters. For the third consecutive time, the association felicitated it with the Gold Award recognition this year. On this occasion, the plant was appreciated for its excellence in safety performance.

The success of Birla Carbon and Novelis has paved the way for other Group companies to strengthen their presence in South America.

Swiss Singapore Overseas Enterprise (SSOE), the international trading arm of the Aditya Birla Group, owns merchant ships such as MV Aditya (pictured here).

Swiss Singapore Overseas Enterprises Pte Ltd (SSOE), the Group's bulk commodity trading solutions provider, has set up a wide trading footprint in the continent. It has a sourcing and supply network for fertilisers, coal, sulphur and petro products spread across South America's markets, including Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, etc. Brazil is also a prominent source of iron ore for the trading entity. The country is also among Aditya Birla Yarn's biggest markets for viscose yarn.

With over 2,000 employees, South America forms a key node in the Group’s global network, and with high potential opportunities in cement, fertilisers, insulators, cellulose, commercial forestry, plantations, commodity trading, and mining.